Football –
An Ettalong football club has claimed a championship title after a hard-fought grand final win at Central Coast Stadium on Sunday November 1.
The Southern & Ettalong United Football club’s under-14 womens team ran out 2-1 winners over Terrigal United to clinch the 2020 season title.
The action was end to end within the opening 45 with the Southern side being awarded a penalty in the 20th minute after a Terrigal handball.
Midfielder Dinna Henderson stepped up to the spot and slotted the ball into the back of the net to give the lionesses a one goal lead at the break.
The Southern side capitalised on their lead in the 60th minute with a strike from midfielder Mali Batten.
The remainder of the game saw Terrigal continue to pepper the Southern goal with a number of shots, but the defence held firm until the last minute of play when Terrigal slotted one home.
Assistant coach Peter Jamieson said he was very proud of the girls’ ‘remarkable’ run this season.
“They’ve done it tough this season – they had such a tight turnaround because of the rain-affected final matches,” Jamieson said.
“It was an amazing effort by the girls to do what they did on Thursday night and back it up four days later against two of the top teams of the competition.”
COVID-19 had initially disrupted the season start with the team finding it hard to settle into stride and found themselves near the bottom of the table after the first six games.
In their round seven clash against Budgewoi, the tides seemed to turn for the Southern side with them coming away 11-0 winners.
The team continued on to record only one loss in the next nine games played – a feat that led them to Sunday’s grand final.
Maisy Rae